Well, today is my best friend's birthday. I told her I was gonna write her a yaoi fanfiction for a present, but as it turns out...I suck at Bleach fanfictions. So I decided to write her a MxM shorty.

So sorry for failing you Mckayla! Hope you enjoy this story anyway!

But look, it's his birthday to!

The sound of breaking glass stopped him. Allen had been just been taking his clothes off for a shower, but the sound echoed through the house and he pulled his shirt back on and ran down the stairs to make sure every one was okay.

"Hey, is everyone okay?" he asked as he went down, and just as he turned the corner into his living room, his father went stomping by him, his face red with anger. He spotted Allen as he went by and stopped for a moment. He shook his head and mumbled something under his breath, then pushed past his son and out of the house. Allen pretended like he hadn't heard what his father had said, but he had. And sadly, he was used to hearing it.

This is all your fault.

He ignored the aching emptiness in his stomach, and went into the kitchen were he knew his mom would be. She was sitting in a chair, her head in her hands, staring at the wall as tears streaked down her beautiful face. A shattered plate lay at her feet, but she was making no move to pick it up. When he came into the room, she looked up at him, but said nothing, only stared.

But her face said it all.

This is all your fault.

Then she got up and walked out of the house and onto the back porch.

Allen stood there for another second, not moving. Then he slowly made his way across the room and bent down. He slowly began to pick up the broken pieces of glass, taking care not to cut his hands. He could feel his mom's eyes watching him as he did it, but she made no move to come in and help him with the mess. He sighed, but it turned into a gasp of pain as the glass cut into his skin.

He quickly dropped the peice, and red blood dripped down his hand onto the tile floor in little drops. He could still feel his mother watching him, but even now, she didn't come in to help him.

Happy birthday to me.

Later that day, he went to the library to research for a school project. It was a pretty old library but it was the closest one to his house, and he had no way to get to another one, because his dad had taken their only car.

As he walked in, he couldn't help but notice the guy at the check-out desk. He looked to be only a couple years older then Allen's now seventeen, and had streaked black, blond, and brown hair, with eyes that were a deep brown. He was actually pretty hot. His eyes followed Allen as he went by, and Allen gave a friendly wave. He returned it with a nod and then went back to reading a magazine that was sitting on the desk.

Allen bent his head and smiled, happy he had aknowledged him. The few times he came here, that guy was always behind the desk. Today had been the first time he'd mustered the strenth the wave to him.

Allen went to the bookshelf that was carrying the information he needed and began to shift through the books. Some of the books were pretty dusty and he couldn't hold back a series of sneezes.

As he was looking, his thoughts drifted back to his parent's fight from that morning. It wasn't anything new. Every since he had told them he was gay six months ago, things had become stressed between them and they fought constantly. They didn't fight with Allen much, but they did something much worse.

They ignored him.

The only times he was even aknowledged at that house was when his father found the time to blame him for his stressed marriage. His mother didn't speak to him and tried her hardest to not even look at him. Allen tried to not let it bother him, telling himself they just needed time to adjust. He had known the risk he was taking when he came out to them, but he'd never imagined they'd take it this hard.

He knew that today there would be no presents, no cake, no hugs and good wishes. He doubted they even remembered it was his birthday.

Suddenly he felt something scurry onto his foot. His head snapped down and he stumbled back a step, then gave a strangled shriek at the sight of a furry, fat rat sitting on his shoe, staring up at him with beady black eyes. He screamed loudly and began to kick his leg violently until the rat went flying. But the moment he turned to get away he was greeted by the sight of another rat standing at the end of the bookshelf.

Allen gasped and his heart began to pound wildly. He had always been terrified of rats and no matter how much time went by, he never got over it. Without meaning to, he screamed again and turned and ran the other way, knocking into the bookshelf as he went. It swayed for a moment, then tumbled over, knocking into the one behind it and bringing it down with it. Allen didn't care, he just hoped that somehow the books had squashed the rats.

"Hey!" he heard someone shout, and he looked back to see the boy from the check-out desk running after him, looking both concerned and angry. For a second it only made him panic further, and he picked up his pace, trying to outrun the boy. Then he realized that he wasn't trying to hurt him and stopped.

"Are you okay?" the boy asked, looking over him to check for injuries. Allen nodded shakily, and the boy asked, "What happened?"

Allen lifted a finger and shakily pointed it back at the books. "T-there were r-rats!"

The boy's face deflated and he gave Allen an exasperated look. "You destroyed half the library over a couple rats?"

That was a bit of an exaggeration, but the way he said it still made Allen flush red in embarrasement. "But I'm a-afraid of rats." he stated, trying to make his reaction seem logical, but it only made the boy laugh.

"Really? I hadn't noticed." he said, and Allen couldn't help but find himself laughing with him. When they stopped, he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Sorry. I'll help you clean it up."

"Yeah you will." the boy said, motioning him to follow after him. As they approached the devestation, Allen slowed, looking around warily for any signs of the rats. When he didn't see any, he reached down and helped the boy heave up the first bookshelf. As they did it, any books that had managed to cling on for dear life fell to the ground with the rest.

"Sorry." he said again, but the boy waved it off. "Its cool. Probably the most exciting thing that will happen all day."

Allen smiled and said, "I, uh, didn't catch your name."

"I didn't say it."

"Well, um...I'm Allen. Allen Winters."

The other boy looked Allen up and down, and with his light blue eyes, and hair so blond it was almost white, the name fit him perfectly. He smiled lightly.

"Foster Clark."

Allen nodded, and said, "Nice to meet you. How old are you?"

The question had come from the need to want to know stuff about Foster, who he couldn't deny he felt an attraction to. Foster cocked an eyebrow, then answered with a shrug.

"Nineteen. How about you?"

The question stung Allen alittle, reminding him that he was alone on his birthday. But since he'd asked Foster and Foster had answered, it was only fair that he answer back, even if it hurt.

"Oh, I, uh, just turned seventeen today."

Foster looked up from the book he was bending down to pick up and asked, "If today is your birthday, why are you alone in a library."

Allen wanted to point out that he wasn't alone, that he was there with him, but he just shrugged. "No one to celebrate it with."

"Don't you have any friends to celebrate with?"

Allen couldn't help but let out alittle snort of laughter. Any friends he'd had had vanished after he'd told them he was gay. Which was fine with him, because obviously they wearn't very good friends after all.

The laughter was all the answer Foster needed and he continued with, "What about your parents?"

Allen decided to test this boy, see how friendly he really was, see how nice he actually was. He wanted to see if he would run away to.

"They're still ignoring me."

"Why are they ignoring you?"

"I told them I was gay."

"Oh. Yeah, parents can be dicks that way."

Allen looked over in suprise. Foster hadn't even blinked. He just kept doing what he was doing, and he didn't even look surpised.

"Your not...suprised?" Allen managed to ask, and this time it was Foster's turn to snort in laughter.

"No straight guy would scream like that at the sight of a rat."

Allen felt his face turn red in embarrasement, and felt himself open his mouth to protest, but Foster stopped him. "Kidding man. Really, its because everytime you come in here you stare at me."

That just made his face get even redder.

"I...uh...you, umm..." he sputtered, unable to come up with anything to say that wouldn't make it sound like he had a crush on Foster. So he turned and ran out the door, leaving behind a mess of books, and a grinning Foster.

Okay...apparently this is going to be a two-shot. Soooo, please come again for chapter two! Which will be posted in mere minutes, I'm sure.

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.